Pilates Exercise For Elderly Adults

Pilates exercise for elderly adults works wonders because it is low
impact compared to other forms of exercise, which means it is not as
severe on the joints as traditional aerobic exercise classes and traditional weight lifting machines.

You will focus on breathing and quality-controlled movements, not repetitions.

Conventional workouts teach you to focus on how many repetitions
you can do and how much weight you can lift, which tends to build short,
bulky muscles that are more prone to injury – especially in older
adults.

Pilates works the “Core”, elongates and strengthens the
muscles at the same time, which, in turn, improves joint mobility and
elasticity.

In effect it is a kinder and gentler way to exercise for the older adult who doesn’t need to be beaten down.

Well, let’s first look at how we walk. We stand upright with;
hopefully, good posture and then we balance ourselves as we reach out
with one leg to take a step shifting our weight onto the forward leg.

Unfortunately, as we age and the core gets weaker we overwork our
hip flexors to lift the leg as we walk, these are the muscles that
shorten and tighten and, in effect, start to pull us forward until we
fall over.

The Form and Principles involved with Walking directly corresponds to Pilates Principles:

Form is your body's plumb line:

head over shoulders,

over hips,

over knees,

over ankles.

It is an aligned body.

The goal is to organize the body so that the spine is stable and
the abdominal muscles are engaged, the limbs are active and supported,
the feet are mobile and the breath is conscious, even and regular.

This posture perfect Pilates form will help contribute to an improved, relaxed, and more fluid gait speed while walking.

If your form is currently not in this perfect plumb line it will
affect your posture, which, in turn, affects your balance and walking.

Pilates exercise for elderly adults helps to correct this un-natural length/tension relationship in the body.

In essence, Pilates stretches muscles that are tight and strengthens those that are weak to help realign your body to its natural form.

Pilates Exercise for Elderly Adults Can and Should be Modified When Needed

It was developed specifically with the needs of the older adult in mind.

The classwork and apparatus training is very individualized in that
all the students can adopt variations and modifications of the exercises
to their own abilities.

Exercise Geriatrics Pilates combines both the suppleness and
flexibility you find in yoga, as well as the strength building you find
doing weight training in the gym.